Gay Republicans dissatisfied with the
direction of gay group Log Cabin Republicans have decided to strike
out on their own.
The new group, GOProud (GOProud.org),
will be launched this week, its founders say. The nascent group will
be helmed by Christopher Barron, a former Log Cabin political
director. Barron says the new group is needed because Log Cabin no
longer represents the politics of the gay conservative.
“Essentially, there's no voice for
gay Republicans or gay conservatives in particular in D.C. right now.
Log Cabin has been completely and totally absent here in D.C. For
months and months,” Barron told Politico's Ben Smith. “It
has simply moved way too far to the left and is basically
indistinguishable from any other gay left organization.”
At GayPatriot.com,
Bruce Carroll announced the formation of the new group and his own
involvement on the board. He agrees with Barron that Log Cabin has
drifted too left.
“Their left-of-center positions on
important issues have bothered me as LCR has continually sucked the
teet of the Gay Leftist agenda,” Carroll wrote. “LCR's silence
and unwillingness to stand up and be vocal on true gay conservative
issues (outing of Republican staffers, increasing threat of gays
being selectively aborted, peril gays face by Islamic extremists) has
been mind-boggling. And LCR's continued obsession in trashing
Republicans, yet letting Democrats get a pass on their gay-related
hypocrisies, has been infuriating.”
Tensions flared after gay weekly Washington Blade revealed that Tim Gill, an openly gay
prominent Democratic philanthropist, was among the group's largest
donors.
The paper cited sources saying that the
Gill Action Fund contributed about one-third of the group's budget in
2007 and 2008, and that it was involved in decision making at the
Republican group. The revelations raised concerns over the extent of
Democratic influence at Log Cabin.
Log Cabin itself appears to be coming
apart at the seams just weeks before hosting its annual convention in
Washington D.C. President Patrick Sammon and Communications Director
Scott Tucker resigned their posts in January, leaving consultants to
work on its four-day convention that opens April 16. And the group
says it expects to cut 2009 spending by as much as 40%.
Senator John McCain's presidential
campaign manager Steve Schmidt and the senator's daughter, Meghan
McCain, are scheduled to speak at the convention. Both Republicans
support gay marriage.
“If your main issue is hate crimes or
[federal anti-discrimination legislation] or marriage, you're
probably not a Republican,” Barron said, adding that he supports
those issues at the state level, not the federal.